Masked Rage and True Desires
by InheriGirl
Summary: Max and the Flock have a huge fight and Max leaves for good. Four years later she meets the Flock again. Now she's stronger and more cold-hearted. Can she forgive the Flock after what they did? Co-Written by Silentflier! Some Max/OC-Max/Fang.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello fanfiction community! I was digging through my backpack and I found this really old story I'd written back when I first started Fanfiction. With a few tweaks I decided to post it and see what you think. So if you hate it be honest. This is strictly a trial run. Anyway, enjoy!**

**Discalimer: I don't own Maximum Ride or the Flock or any other things related to it.**

Max P.O.V.

Three years after I left and it still hurts. I can't believe that, after all I'd done for them, the Flock didn't want me.

~flashback~

"_Max we can't live like this." Iggy protested._

"_Then what do you propose we do?" I shot back. We had been living in caves, on the run again. Somehow Erasers just kept popping up. Everywhere we went there was a whole platoon of baddies waiting for us._

"_Split up." Iggy responded quietly._

"_No! I will not split us up again!" I retorted angrily._

"_Max please…" Fang pleaded. Which is odd, Fang never pleads anything._

"_NO! She doesn't get it! We can't live like this and it's because of Max!" Iggy exploded. I was shocked. This is Iggy we're talking about. He may complain but he's never done anything like this._

"_But… we're a family." I said weakly._

"_JUST LEAVE!! You don't understand! You obviously don't care about us anymore if you're leading Erasers to us!" Nudge yelled! Nudge too? She was the sweetest mutant you'll ever meet. My family was turning on me. I opened my wings; I couldn't take more of this. Tears began pouring down my cheeks. Yes, the great Maximum Ride was crying._

"_Max, we didn't-" Fang was cut off._

"_Goodbye." I said coldly, through my sobs. I took off through the mouth of the cave and flew at super speed, just to get away from the pain._

~flashback~

Now I was 18 and defiantly different. I doubt the Flock would even recognize me. My dirty blonde hair had smoothed out and was now a light golden color. My brown eyes glittered with a fire. I worked for the government now. Scary, right? I was in an elite group that was dedicated to taking down Itex. I even had a gun and I was even better at fighting, being superhuman didn't hurt either.

My comm. unit crackled. It was my partner Alexx. He's an experiment too. They called him experiment X, thus adding the extra "x" onto Alex. He's 3% panther and 97% human, one of the only viable experiments. Besides me and the… Flock.

"Max do you copy, over." Alexx said into the mic.

"Yeah, I'm here Alexx. Over." I responded.

"You ready for this? Over." He asked. Even with the static, I could tell he sounded worried.

"Don't worry. You know me. I'll be fine. Over." I said calmly. We were getting ready to infiltrate my funeral. That's right folks, my funeral. The headline approximately 3 and a ½ years ago. TEENAGE GIRL KILLED BY GIANT WOLVES. So now the Flock thinks I'm dead, killed by Erasers. That was Jeb's doing. He found me and recruited me into the rebellion. Jeb was also organizing the funeral. He thought it was the perfect place to reveal myself. As I stepped out of the car I took a deep breath. The Flock doesn't matter to me anymore, they didn't want me and I'm only here to carry out my mission… When was I going to stop lying to my self?

**So love it, hate it, want to burn it and throw it out a window? Tell me what you** **think either way!**

**R&R**

**~Silentflier**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey people! I was on a roll yesterday so I thought I'd update again. Thanks to all who reviewed. Especially Jenny de bookworm thanks Jam! **

**Disclaimer: (I realized I forgot this last chapter) I do not own Maximum Ride. **

**Anyway on with the story!**

Max P.O.V.

I walked to the burial plot where the funeral was being held. My "body" had never been found so they were just burying an empty casket. When I arrived no one paid me a second thought, they were all too busy mourning me. I immediately saw the Flock-being the freakishly tall mutants they are. They were dressed in mourning black. Even Nudge, who always swore she would never be caught dead in black. I spoke into my comm. unit.

"I'm in. Over." My ear piece crackled to life.

"Ok everyone, positions!" Alexx whisper-yelled into his mic. I quickly took a seat as the funeral began. The first up to speak was Nudge. She got up from where the Flock was sitting and walked up to the podium. I looked out over the audience. I saw my mom and Ella. Max II surprisingly. I never thought she would show up. Nudge's voice broke through my thoughts.

"I... umm-uh." She cleared her throat. "Max was like an older sister to me. She helped me and guided me. But the last time I saw her I pushed away that guidance and love for selfish reasons. Where ever you are Max, I love you and miss you so much. I wish I could take back everything I said that night and that none of this happened but I can't. If we hadn't said those things to you, you would still be here. I'm so so so sorry Max." She choked back tears and walked back to her seat.

Had she really meant that? Did they actually miss me? I shut down that thought immediately. That life was dead and gone, dead and gone. I was jerked out of my revere. Next to speak was Iggy.

"Max... How do I describe her? She was tough, smart, uh leader-ly. She was one of my best friends and my big sister. And she never let me forget it. Sometimes she was like a mom to us. I still don't know how she did it all those years. She never let me and Gazzy get away with anything." He gave a sad smile. "The last thing I said to her was 'You don't understand us. You don't even care about us anymore.' Now four years later, I see how wrong I was. She died protecting us and I will never get to tell her how sorry I am and how much I miss her." He finished softly, his voice breaking on the last word. He stepped down and a dark haired girl helped him to his seat. Gazzy stood up and made his way over. He leaned down to the mic and spoke.

"I never thought this day would come. To me, Max was invincible. She was my mother, sister and protector. I loved her so much. The day she left I didn't understand what was happening, I thought Max would come back and start telling us to pack up and move out. When I heard she died I was shocked. I refused to believe it. So we searched for her but we had no luck. I miss you so much Max and I still can't believe you're gone." He sniffed and stepped away from the podium.

He motioned to Angel. She got up and walked over, quickly pausing to hug her brother. She stood in front of the microphone and surveyed the crowd. Thankfully I had my mind blocks up. I looked at her, she's 10 now. She was wearing a black dress with a black headband to hold back her golden curls.

"Max was an amazing leader and an even better mother. She was strong and smart and kind. She was my role model, and now thinking back on it, I regret trying to take over the Flock. When she left she was in pain. It was consuming her. In her heart, in her mind. I didn't pay attention to it because I was convinced she was working against us. But now I realize she loved us and she was truly hurt by what we did. Now I can't tell her how wrong I was and how much I love her." Angel began to cry softly and I quickly clamped down on my thought, determined not to reveal my presence.

Fang was the last of the Flock to speak. He walked up to the podium, as emotionless as ever. But in that one second afterwards I saw in his eyes pain, longing and an infinite amount of sadness. He leaned forward and spoke.

"Where do I begin? Max was smart, strong, beautiful, caring; I could go on forever. She was an amazing leader and when we abandoned her we didn't stop to think about how it hurt her. We were only thinking about ourselves. But once she was gone we fell apart. I certainly couldn't lead the Flock like she could. And I never told her how much she meant to me. I loved her and all I did was push her away." He finished and became an emotionless rock once more.

Jeb got up to speak and Fang glared at him. There was so much rage in that look it shocked me.

You all know why we're here, right? We are here to honor an incredible warrior, sister and beloved daughter. Well, I'm here for the same reasons but only I have something that could save us all." He looked at me and nodded. I stood up swiftly and ran to the stage. "Maximum Ride." He stated softly. I avoided the gasps and cries of shock from the audience. Alexx and my team surrounded the burial plot. I met Alexx's eyes and he smiled at me. "Alexx, please escort everyone out, except for the Flock." Jeb commanded.

"Yes sir!" Alexx rushed to carry out his order. He escorted out the few people that had come besides the Flock. Jeb the addressed the Flock.

"By now you must have realized why you are actually here." The Flock was still staring at me in disbelief, save for Fang who was just staring in mild astonishment.

"Max-but... you-you're dead!" Nudge babbled. For once, at a loss for words.

"Well as you can see she is very much alive. When you-ahem- left the flock I recruited her into an elite group working against Itex. Max is in the very top group of soldiers. They infiltrate Itex and do serious damage to their strongest points. They are called The Betrayal." Jeb explained. The Flock looked a little sheepish at the name.

"We're here to ask if you would like to join the resistance." I spoke for the first time. Alexx then walked up behind me and put his arm around my waist. Yeah that's right we're together. He helped me heal after the Flock and Fang... Anyway, I leaned into him, savoring the moment of relaxation. Fang's face lost its impassive look and turned to a look of jealousy. I smirked.

"Well? Will you join?" Jeb asked. The Flock looked at Fang. He nodded stiffly.

"Anything to stop Itex." He said softly. They looked back at me. I reluctantly stood up. I stepped towards my team and motioned to them.

"Well are you coming?" I turned to ask them. They rushed to follow me. What have I gotten myself into?

**So love it, hate it? Either way review! By the way, I added that little bit after Iggy's speech for you Sej! Hope ya liked it! See y'all soon!**

**~Silentflier**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok everybody welcome back! Thanks so much to my co-writer Inherigirl who wrote half this chapter! Let's give her a big round of applause! Anyway, thanks to all my reviewers! I fulfilled your request and gave you some info on Alexx. More about the team to come soon!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride and neither does Inherigirl. Sadly, although we're starting an Iggy fanclub!!!**

**Claimer: I own Alexx, the Betrayal and all my other OCs including Avery and any others you might see.**

**On with the story!**

**MAX POV**

We had arrived at the headquarters of The Betrayal. The Flock looked shocked and awed at the platinum walls and the sleek metal doors. Right now, Nudge and Angel were exploring, Gazzy and Iggy were making explosives, and Fang was sitting in the corner, plotting escape routes. I was sitting with Alexx on the couch. Alexx's arm was around my shoulders and we were… well, we were extremely close together.

"Okay, everyone gather 'round!" Jeb called. "Welcome to the headquarters of The Betrayal." Jeb looked at me. Alexx and I stood up, Alexx's arm still around me. I began to explain The Betrayal.

"The Betrayal is an elite government group that is working to take down all branches of Itex. This group started after Jeb located me. At first, I was reluctant to go with him, because I believed him to be working with-I mean against me." I stuttered, even though I was sure everyone knew that I was going to say 'with you.' They tried to ignore it and I plowed on. "Now I'm the commander. I have a team of five elite personnel including Alexx." I shot him a glance and he squeezed my waist reassuringly. "Alexx is my second in command and… boyfriend." I trailed off, unsure. Fang jumped up. "Something you'd like to add, Fang?" I asked. He opened his mouth as if to say something.

"No," he ground out angrily. He began to walk away. I stepped in front of him.

"Are you sure?" I asked him snarkily. Fang just stared at me before bursting out with fury.

"No Max, I'm not sure! I'm confused and angry and… and just so annoyed!" Fang was running his hands throughout his hair and it was standing on end. It looked… well, between you, the lamppost, and me, it looked _darn_ hawt! I shut that thought away as soon as my brain processed what he said.

"You know Fang, _why_ are you confused, angry, and annoyed? Can it be from seeing me again? Well that shouldn't shock you at all because-ahem-you DID kick me out!" Whoa. I admit, that was mean, even for me. I saw the flock and Jeb leave the room. Smart idea.

"Max, if I remember correctly, Iggy kicked you out! I didn't want to leave the flock or you so…" he trailed off.

"So what?!! You made your choice and left me to fend for myself on the streets! Luckily Jeb found me and introduced me to Alexx who is, by the way, part panther!"

"Alexx," growled Fang. I heard a faint noise and looked at the couch. Alexx was still sitting there. I nodded to him and he left the room.

"What is with this Alexx anyway? And aren't panthers in the same family as cats? And don't cats eat birds?" Fang questioned.

"Maybe that's the whole point!" I nearly screeched.

Fang was speechless for a second, and then took a step closer to me. Now our chests were touching.

"I don't believe you Max! Here you are, doing something irresponsible and in the end, I'm going to have to save you, _AGAIN_!" I blinked a few times. Then I felt fury erupt in me.

"How DARE you say that! How would you even think-"I stuttered to a halt and stared into his eyes. Mistake number one. They were like reels, pulling me in. I leaned closer and Fang leaned closer, and we both leaned closer and

BAM!

Our lips connected. I was lost in a haze; I had no control over my body. He wrapped his arms around me until...

"MAX!"

Looking around, I saw Alexx near the door and he looked _pissed_!

_UH-OH._

I angrily pushed Fang away. Then I punched him for good measure. His hands flew to his face and a look of shock crossed his face.

"What the hell Max?!" He yelled, looking pissed. Then, Alexx punched him too.

"Stay away from my girlfriend!" Alexx snarled. He grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room. We stopped in one of our conference rooms.

"What happened?" He growled. His eyes had turned yellow and slit-pupiled. A sharp _shick! _sound told me he was flexing his deadly claws.

"Fang and I were arguing. He was yelling in my face and then suddenly he was kissing me. It didn't mean anything I swear! We used to be together.... I honestly don't know why I kissed him back..." I trailed off uncertainly, looking at the floor. He tilted my chin up so I was looking directly into his green-gold eyes.

"I think I can let it slide then. I love you Max and I don't want to lose you." He leaned in and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him back eagerly. He pulled away gently and pushed his shaggy brown hair out of his eyes. Alexx had been a prisoner at an Itex lab in Australia. We had rescued him when we destroyed the lab. He was the only intelligent experiment so they were teaching him to speak and fight. He still has a bit of an accent but only when he's agitated.

"C'mon Max. We should assign the Flock positions." Alexx suggested.

"Fine." I was reluctant to face the Flock (and to leave my boyfriend, but more of the first.) We stepped out of the room. The Flock was waiting outside in the hall; thankfully our rooms were sound proof.

"Ok now for assignments." I barked, becoming a leader again. I looked at the Flock. They all looked eager, save for Fang who just looked pissed off. His right cheek was swelling up pretty badly. Oops that must have been one hell of a punch Alexx threw.

"We have many different branches of our organization. There's our combat unit, our tech unit, transportation team, weapons department and my job is to place you. Now, I need a current list of abilities, powers and specials skills. Angel you're first." I ordered, looking at her.

"Mind reading and controlling, breathing under water, talking to fish, telekinesis and I can change into any human disguise that I want to. I'm still working on changing into different birds." She rattled off proudly. I thought about her abilities. She should go into Special Operations. Special Operations is our team that takes care of all of the things combat forces can't do.

"Alright, I'm putting you in Special Operations. They handle high level stuff and would be the best people to teach you to even better control your powers. You'll report to Avery. I'll introduce you later." I informed her. She smiled at me.

"Nudge, you're up next." I said, turning to face her.

"Well, I can still hack computers, attract metal and feel emotions. Now I can heal." She told me, all in one breath.

"Ok I'll put you in our tech but we're short on personal in the Medic unit. So we can switch you around if we need to. Ok?" I asked her.

"Ok! So do I get to work with computers? I love working with computers! I can do so much now! I also get to work with sick people too, right? I don't really like sick people but I want to help! So-" She was cut off by a huge BOOM!!!

**So love it, hate it, want to run it over with a truck? Let me know by way of review or PM. Also, with more pressing issues, I have a poll on my profile that will decide the fate of the story! Please vote! It would help me and Inherigirl so so much!**

**~Silentflier**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Hey people, InheriGirl and Silentflier here. So we wrote the fourth chapter and **

**we have many OC's in here. so if you don't understand in the beginning of the chapter, it will make sense! ok, enjoy!!!**

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She was cut off by a huge BOOM!

Suddenly a voice called, "Sorry!" A young woman stepped out of the smoke.

"Sorry, that was one of my new smoke bombs." She grinned, "It worked!"

The flock stared at her and Iggy and Gazzy had the biggest grins plastered onto their faces.

"Flock, meet Ex, our weapons specialist," I said, watching them take her in. She certainly stood out with her curly brown hair with red streaks. Ex had bright, brown eyes and even though she was small, she had enough energy for two people.

"Hiya folks! It sure is nice to finally meet all of you! Max wouldn't stop thinking about all of you and is really excited that you're all here!"

I decided now was a good time to cut in. "Ex, meet your two new recruits, Iggy and Gazzy," I announced. Gazzy and Iggy had identical grins on their faces. "Alright, now go to the corner of the room and wait until I finish assigning everyone else." Gazzy, Iggy, and Ex all walked to the corner and sat down on some chairs.

I walked over to a small box on the wall and pressed a button. A crackly voice came out.

"Max?"

"Yes Claudia. Can you please send in Special Ops and have the Team wait outside the door." I whispered into the mouthpiece.

Turning around, I noticed the flock staring at me and Ex smiling knowingly.

"The next team that you'll be introduced to is the Special Ops Unit. Angel, you'll be reporting to the leader of this group, Avery."

On my cue, the Special Ops Unit sauntered in. "Avery, Austin, Janie, and Mystery, meet the flock," I pointed to each member of the unit as I said their name. Avery was tall with long, waist length, black hair. There were natural reddish-blonde highlights. She had tan skin and dark brown eyes. She was carrying knives on her belt, and a quiver and a bow and arrows slung across her back. Avery was a master of these weapons.

"Hi!" Avery said. She leaned towards Angel, meeting her eyes directly. "You're Angel, right? The little girl with many powers?"

Angel nodded timidly. Avery gently smiled and leaned down to Angel's height.

"Well, then I guess that I can't wait to work with you!" Avery winked at her and I smiled. Avery was going to take good care of my little girl.

Avery stepped aside, holding Angel's hand.

"This is the rest of my unit. The man with the sandy brown hair and the hazel eyes is Austin. His power is controlling water and he was rescued from a lab in Florida. We still haven't been able to figure out what the scientists injected him with, but Austin has amazing combat skills." Austin nodded his head and the flock looked impressed. I decided to take over.

"Next to him is Janie who has the very unique power to sing someone to death," I stopped as the entire room laughed.

"Janie can actually sing pitches so high that the enemy can die or at least pass out within 1.038 seconds of hearing the note. Janie is also great at hand-to-hand combat and has an amazing reaction time."

I paused for the room to be silent. "Next to Janie is Mystery. She is called this because she is extremely mysterious. No one knows where she came from because, in fact," I paused, "Mystery found us and joined us with a few friends in my elite team and the tech team. Mystery can control the air, more specifically, the wind." I glanced at Mystery and she smile, her teeth standing out against her pale skin, brown hair, and golden eyes.

I waited while the flock made introductions with the Special Ops Unit. Voices of the flock trickled over to me.

"Wow! I'm so totally excited to meet you! I mean we were just going around, trying to help save the world when Sage and Malorey tracked us down and-Oh wait! You probably don't know who Sage and Malorey are, do you? They're both mutants like all of us and.." I zoned out the rest of Nudge's words and smiled to myself. Boy, was the flock in for a huge surprise. Turning around, I said,

"Now I'm about to introduce you to my elite team. You know two of the members but you never knew that they were working undercover for The Betrayal," I smiled and nodded to Alexx who had been standing quietly in a corner of the walked over to the door and eased it open. My team walked in, starting with Matt and ending with Malorey. The flock gasped as the saw the two members that had been working undercover and who had just recently become their friends.

"I'm going to let my team introduce themselves properly." Stepping aside, I nodded to my team and whispered, "Just like how we rehearsed."

Matt was the first to begin.

"Hello, my name is Matt and I have two powers." He paused and mussed up his hair. "I have super strength and I can do future drawings." When the flock looked confused at this, he elaborated. "I have a vision of the future and an overwhelming need to draw it on paper. What I draw may be the future, but its not set in time. In other words, what I draw is just a possibility for what can really happen in the future and anyone can change it." The flock looked awed and I spotted Nudge staring openmouthed at him. Frankly, I couldn't blame her. Matt was pretty awesome. He had blonde gold hair and bright blue eyes. He was 5'9" and was loud, funny, flirty, and obnoxious. Nudge and him would be perfect! Shaking my head, I nudged the back of Dare's shoe. He walked up.

"I'm Dare and I have two powers also. I'm from the same lab in Florida as Austin. We were rescued together. I can shadow-meld and track. I tracked down you guys and Sage and Malorey socialized with you." He stepped back and looked at me. I smiled at him. Dare had very little self confidence and had black shaggy hair with gray-green eyes.

Malorey walked up next. "Alright, so you already know me seeing as I located you and convinced you to come here, well actually to Max's 'funeral.'" She smiled hesitantly and the rest of the flock stared stoically at her. "Well, I actually have two powers and can do hand to hand combat, partial weapons, black belt, and I am familiar with using swords and daggers. My powers are shields and lightning. My shields aren't too big yet but I'm working on it. I was rescued from a lab in Georgia by Max personally and we busted Sage out of a lab in Nevada," Malorey smiled sheepishly and Angel and Nudge smiled back.

Sage walked up to Malorey. "Hey, its been a while since I last saw you," she chuckled nervously. "Um.. well I have two powers and I am actually 2% tiger. You heard that I was in a lab in Nevada. When I was a baby, the scientists injected 2% tiger DNA into me and I lived, becoming a successful experiment. I can fully transform into a tiger and can do Tiger knives. I also can do hand-to-hand combat and have a black belt." The flock stared at her dubiously and I spotted a determined glint in her eye. UH-OH. Right then and there, she proceeded to turn into a tiger and walked to Iggy. Nudging Iggy's hand, she nuzzled into him. I tried to hide my snicker as Iggy yelled, " HOLY CRAP! She's white and brown and black and she's all furry!" A deep noise rumbled in Sage's stomach which I learned to be as laughter. Iggy continued on petting her while I walked forward.

"So now you have seen the Special Ops and the Team, are you ready for the Tech Unit?" The flock stared open-mouthed at me. I snickered and walked to the door.

**FANG POV**

Wow. I literally feel speechless. I mean, how many of you kick someone out of your flock, go to her funeral, find out she's not really dead, she's really in a government group called The Betrayal, are being introduced and placed when someone blows up a smoke bomb, meet new people with amazing powers, and find out two of your close friends have been working undercover for The Betrayal the entire time you knew them? Ya. That's right. No one. So you can expect that even my usually stoic face was wearing a comical expression of shock.

I liked the Special Ops Unit and I was-well, I was nearly green from envy from the elite team. Avery seemed really nice, and strangely, I feel like I can trust her, mainly because Max was calm around her. Her team was slightly frightening but Austin seemed interesting enough. Austin wasn't exactly a ladies man because of his looks. He had sandy brown hair up to his ears and bright hazel eyes. Also, he had a good height, 5'8''. Janie was slightly more creepy actually. Nudge was so excited when she heard that Janie used her singing voice as a weapon. I nearly winced when Angel yelled from excitement in my mind. Mystery was well... a mystery. She didn't show much emotion, like me. I had a feeling we would get along really well.

Max's elite team was a completely different story. Matt seemed like a pompous pig, so I had no idea how he made it into Max's team. He was always mussing up his blonde hair and shining his blue eyes at everyone. Dare was more like someone that I'd get along with. With his shaggy black hair that went past his ears, and his green-gray eyes, he wouldn't stand out in a crowd. I decided upon seeing him that I liked him. I can't say that I wasn't surprised when Sage and Malorey pranced in, part of Max's team. I was slightly shocked at their appearances though. They had put on slight disguises when they were with us. Now, Malorey had auburn shoulder-length hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. Her eyes were a unique shade of blue-silver. She was slightly shorter, only 5'6'', whereas in her disguise, she wore heels. Malorey never told us that she had any powers but now that I know that, I have to say that her powers are _DAMN_ awesome! Sage was also extremely surprising. Her height was 5'7'' and her hair was really a dark, dark, brown color. It was also a bit below shoulder length and was layered. When Sage was with us, she dyed strips of her hair different colors. Now, she had a few strips of faded purple in her hair. Her eyes were dark brown. Sage's personality was more outgoing that when she was with us, and her power of turning into a tiger was SICK! I was nearly green with envy when she turned into a tiger right in front of us. Sage's fur was white near the stomach and black and brown everywhere else. She had a small piece of her fur on her tail dyed purple. When she scared the crap out of Iggy, even I was in hysterics. Max looked strong and leaderly and confident as she walked to the door. When she said,

"So now you have seen the Special Ops and the Team, are you ready for the Tech Unit?", I nearly fainted from shock. I groaned and followed her, thinking _what next?_

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**So tell us how you like it!!!!! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello people of fanfiction! I'm back from the dead! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while but I've been so busy it's not even funny. Homework is the worst evil there is! Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter, it might not be my best. I just recovered from a severe case of Writer's Block.**

Max P.O.V.

Well now we were on our way to the huge room that served as our Tech Head Quarters. I set my thumb on the pad outside the door and let it scan. "Maximum Ride. Entrance granted." Pretty high tech, right? Nudge looked totally stunned. If they thought the thumb pad was high tech, they were going to be in awe when they saw the Tech Head Quarters. I shot them all a smug smile. We stepped into the room. The flock gasped with amazement. See? What did I tell you? The room was lined with computers all around the edges. The lighting was dark, that way we could see the technology better. Huge screens adorned the walls with grids and maps projected onto them. Coming closer into the room. I saw my brilliant tech team sitting in swivel chairs typing away madly on computers or looking at maps and grids. I cleared my throat and all of their heads snapped up to meet my gaze in unison.

"Flock, meet my Tech team. They work for hours on an end, decoding information from stolen papers from Itex or hacking into sites that might include information on Itex. So far, we've been able to plot two attacks against Itex, rescuing more mutants and stealing more paperwork." I walked over to the other side of the room near my tech team and began to introduce them.

"Tech team, this is the flock. The tall blonde one near Sage is Iggy and the girl standing next to Mal is Nudge. She's actually going to be shuffled between here and the Medic Bay." I informed them. Zam gave a look. Zam is the leader of the Tech Unit, her and her twin both lead it. She's very picky about her crew.

"You know I need someone full time. What if I need her to hack into something and she's off healing?" She looked sullen.

"Well you'll just have to make do. We need people in the Medic Bay and we need Nudge's tech skills here. So deal with it!" I said fiercely.

"Fine." She looked defeated. It didn't really matter we faced off like this daily. She called our little arguments healthy debates.

"So, Nudge, this is Zam. She's the leader, her twin brother, Zane is the co-leader. That," I said pointing to the tall young man standing behind Zam. "Is Shane. He manipulates metal and raw energy with his mind. He's also really good at finding back doors and loop holes in hacking programs." I explained to Nudge. Shane nodded at Nudge. "Now that young woman there is Callista ." I continued, gesturing to the blonde woman sitting at her computer. "She's the only normal one on the tech team." I lowered my voice to a theatrical whisper, "Or at least she likes to think she is." Calli glared at me and I laughed. "Now, finally the guy who looks almost exactly like Zam is, obviously her twin. He's mute so he communicates through his sister. He was an experiment too. Zane's powers are telepathy and images. That means he can plant false images in anyone's head and he communicates through images too." Zane smiled at Nudge and then went back to hacking his way through some firewall.

"OMG! It's so nice to meet you all. As you may know I'm Nudge and I can touch anything and know who was there and what they were feeling. I also know exactly what to do when it comes to passwords and hacking into computers. Also, I can heal people so that's why I'm in the Medic place too. I'm so excited-" I slapped a hand over her mouth and she grinned at me sheepishly.

"Be warned. Nudge likes to talk. _A lot."_ I said seriously. They grinned at me. "Ok Nudge, I'm going to leave you here so you can familiarize yourself with the techies and then Zam'll take you over to the Medic Bay. Alright?" I asked her. She nodded, looking fascinated with the computers and gadgets lining the room. I beckoned to the Flock and we all exited the room.

"Now we are going to the weapons room. Our medical team knows possibly everything there is to know about weapons as well as being trained highly in first aid." I walked down the hall and continued on until I came to the door marked Weapons Department. Warning: HIGHLY FLAMMABLE! I turned to face the rest of the Flock.

"This is the weapons room. In it, our medical unit are cleaning the weapons and trying to invent some type of bomb that manages to blow up an area of up to two thousand feet. Iggy, this is where you and Gazzy come in. Both of you will help with this project. You will also tell the unit everything you know about weapons and bombs, using information from previous attempts. Seeing as I practically lived with both of you my whole life, you should have eons of information." I smiled as Iggy and Gazzy were nearly quivering with excitement. Sage looked worried and was whispering at them to calm down.

I turned the door handle and entered the room. We stepped into a large, spacious room with a sky light. The large platform in the center of room there were several people standing around.

"Hey! Guys! I brought new recruits!" I yelled across the room. Ex perked up.

"Is it those boys you introduced me to earlier?" She asked looking at Iggy and Gazzy.

"Yup. Meet Iggy and The Gasman or Gazzy for short. They're some of the best pyros I've ever known. Except you guys, of course." I told her.

"Hi Iggy! Hi Gazzy!" She said, waving ecstatically. "Ok guys I would like you to meet the medic team/weapons specialists. Scary combo right?" Ex asked with a laugh. "This is Lily. She one of our best Medics." Ex gestured to a young woman with long black hair with green streaks. "She's really nice but I wouldn't recommend getting on her bad side." Lily glared at Ex then turned to the boys and waved.

"Nice to meet you!" She called out from her station, then quickly turning back to the grenade launcher she was adjusting. Ex just continued on.

"Alright moving on. Over there is Dominic." The tall young man looked up at the sound of his name. He had a tall lanky figure, almost as tall as Iggy. His black hair was constantly flopping into eyes, obscuring his emerald green eyes. "He does plant work and helps create new weapons. We use his plants for healing." Dominic nodded at them and then returned his attention to the plant he was working with.

"Hey Ex, you think you could hurry a bit? We got a schedule to keep." Alexx reminded her.

"Sure thing Alexx." She replied cheerfully. "Now that over there is Zara. She's an absolute genius with weapons!" The young brunette smiled at them from her station, hazel twinkling.

"It's very nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you." She stated, looking at me pointedly. I smiled sheepishly.

"Ok so that about does it for this unit." Ex said looking at the boys.

"Well, you guys can stay here and get acquainted. I'm going to take the others to their respective units, ok? I finished looking at Iggy and Gazzy. They looked like they were pyromania heaven.

"Ok. Thanks Max!" Iggy replied, looking at the stockpile of weapons on the table in the middle of the room.

I beckoned to the other, which now only consisted of Alexx, Fang and Angel. We made it as far as outside the door when my phone rang.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Max? It's Zam. We have a problem."

**Oooh a cliffie! I know I'm evil… hehe! Review please! The little button is lonely :'(. Thanks!**

**~Silentflier and InheriGirl**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey everyone! InheriGirl and Silentflier are BACK! YAYAYAYAYAY! Then again, you should probably run for your life now that we're back... LOLZ! So we worked hard on this chapter... well actually InheriGirl did.. it was her turn to write the chapter.. Silentflier will write the next chapter! anyway.. so if some of the facts in here are wrong, don't blame us, we get our ideas from watching NCIS... lolz. ENJOY!**

**-Page Break-**

**Max POV**

I walked quickly to the Tech room. Putting my thumb on the pad, I rushed in as the doors whooshed open. Looking around, I saw that everyone had gathered around a single computer. Someone was typing rapidly. Zam pulled me aside for a moment.

"Max," she said with wide eyes.

"What's the problem?" I asked, trepidation building up inside of me.

"Little Miss Talkative over there found someone attempting to hack into our systems. She was only on the computer for five minutes. Five," said Zam hoarsely. I grinned.

"So Nudge is good?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Max, she's fricken amazing! She beat all of our records and she was only supposed to be exploring the software that we use. It's amazing!" I grinned again before turning somber.

"So what about the hacker?" I asked. If the normal government found out about us, then we'd have a real mess of trying to clean up suspicions that we were a secret terrorist organization. Only the FBI and CIA knew about us, and only under presidential orders. The Vice President didn't even know about us. That's how secretive we were. So if someone hacked our files, then they knew about us. And that was a problem. Zam nodded toward the computer.

"See for yourself." I walked over and leaned over Nudge's shoulder. She was typing code furiously. I read everything and noticed a string of code that could be used to delete all of our files. I had to warn Nudge before she activated it.

"Nudge! Line thirty-four of code could potentially delete all of our files. Don't enter it in!" I warned her.

"Max, chill. The line will force the hacker out of our systems and it'll let them think that our files are deleted because they're virtually inaccessible except by our computers. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," ranted Nudge. I was nervous. What is she made a mistake? I saw Nudge's finger go toward the Enter key.

"Nudge, NO!" I yelled. But it was too late. All of the flashing letters and colors froze before disappearing completely. The screen flashed black for a moment before a window popped upwith words and a location on it. The room was silent.

"Nudge, what-?" I broke off, slightly confused as to what had just happened. Nudge looked sheepish but smug at the same time.

"Sorry Max. I should have told you exactly what I was doing. But then we would have let the hacker gain access to the files and that would've been bad," she said, her eyes widening.

"That's okay Nudge, but what did you do exactly?" I asked, now severely confused. Nudge scrunched up her face.

"Well, I de-routed the hacker's line and created a fake virtual room with fake files that imitate the behavior of our computers. While the hacker was busy with examining those files, I managed to get some information about the hacker. I got the name and location!" The people in the room cheered.

"So, the hacker's gone?" I asked.

"The hacker's gone," Nudge confirmed. "And they'll probably be gone until they update their technology." I was impressed.

"Nudge, your powers have grown a lot since..." I trailed off. Nudge nodded, understanding what I was trying to say.

"Welcome to the team," I said. Nudge grinned proudly. Suddenly, I heard yelling outside of the room. Whirling around, I threw open the door to see what all of the commotion was. Looking around the hall, I saw the Weapon/Medical Units standing outside of the weapon room.

"What happened?" I asked worriedly. The hallway was silent. Then everyone looked to the center where two boys were standing, looking sheepish. I felt like growling at them. What did they do now? Right when I opened my mouth, I heard a bunch of feet pounding on the floor behind me. Turning around, I saw my elite team looking worried. Angel looked adorable with a little frown on her face.

"Max! We heard a large boom and a lot of people running so we got worried and came to see if you knew what was wrong," said Angel in one breath. Wow. That girl was spending too much time with Nudge. I bent down to her level and stroked her blond curls.

"Angel, sweetie. I think that I might know what happened. I think that Iggy and Gazzy may have accidentally set off a new bomb that they made and that forced everyone in the room to evacuate." I raised my voice near the end so that the two boys would hear me. And the rest of the building. I've found that there's no better punishment than public humiliation. Then again, this was Iggy and Gazzy. They were used to public humiliation. In fact, it was almost like they craved for the spotlight. I sighed before standing up and turning around to the two boys.

"So, what happened this time? That must be a record for you: It hasn't even been twenty minutes with you both in the weapon room and you've already managed to blow something up. What's the damage?" I asked Ex wearily. She grinned at my frustration and the boy's antics.

"I'm not sure. We had to clear out of the room. The bomb would've blown us all to pieces if we had stayed. Luckily, the room is equipped with safety guards against accidental bomb blow-ups so hopefully the damage isn't too great," said Ex, looking fondly at the boys. I turned to Angel and Fang who had somehow crept up behind me.

"Any other warnings that I should get? Any of your powers expanded so greatly that they might surprise me? Anyone? Because now's the time to 'fess up," I said anxiously.

Fang disappeared before my very eyes. Angel's eyes flashed before she started growing taller and her hair grew longer until I was looking at myself... sort of. Fang came back into sight after a few seconds of open mouthed shock and Angel looked more like herself.

"Well. Now that that's over, everybody go back to work!" I commanded. Everyone moved out of the way and went back into their respective rooms except for my elite team and the flock. Alexx came up behind me and rubbed my shoulders comfortingly. I had to force myself to not glance at Fang.

"So how do you like it here so far?" I asked the flock. Nudge opened her mouth to speak.

"I totally love this place! It's so cool how we have this totally awesome secret hideout and this organization. And I really love the name. The Betrayal. Who thought of that name? It's really powerful. You know what else is-" Sage slapped her hand over Nudge's mouth. I smiled.

"Well, at least that hasn't changed," I said. Everyone laughed.

"So, um, what do you have for food around here?" asked Iggy. "I'm starving!"

Sage elbowed him in his stomach.

"Ow!" he yelled. "What was that for?" Iggy asked, glaring in Sage's general direction. She frowned but looked as if she was hiding a smile.

"You're always hungry! It's like a never ending cycle with you!" She told him.

"Yeah? Well you're always hungry also! In fact, I think that you may eat more food than me!" Iggy yelled at her. The room 'oohed' when Iggy said that. Sage narrowed her eyes and stood on tiptoes so that she could poke his chest.

"At least I don't advertise the fact that I'm a-" I decided that now was a good time to jump in the

conversation before Sage decided to transform into her tiger-self.

"Ok, wow. Stop arguing. You act like an old married couple!" Ha. Now that shut them up. Sage and Iggy blushed. My stomach growled and I remembered the reason why Sage and Iggy had begun arguing in the first place.

"Well, let's go down to our awesome all-you-can-eat buffet in the cafeteria that I somehow forgot to show you, even though it's the best part!" The team cheered and followed me out the door.

**-page break-**

**A/N: Did you like it? Can you let us know if you liked it? Well, the only way to do that is to review.. SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? THE POOR LITTLE BUTTON IS LONELY! lolz :) By the way, (This is Silentflier) Inherigirl and I have discovered this amazing new TV show called Merlin! If any of you have seen it you know what we're talking about! If you're interested they have the first two season on ****hulu.****com, it's totally worth it! Peace out! Thanks for reading!**

**~InheriGirl and Silentflier**


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